


Ten Mile Walk

by sunspot (unavoidedcrisis)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Episode Tag, Episode: s01e01 Pilot, Gen, Introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-17
Updated: 2014-11-17
Packaged: 2018-02-25 20:00:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2634392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unavoidedcrisis/pseuds/sunspot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean takes a walk and thinks about things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ten Mile Walk

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by something [cantarina](http://archiveofourown.org/users/cantarina/pseuds/cantarina) said during a group rewatch for 1x01 (in like, 2009), after the scene when the car tries to run the boys off the bridge. _“Wait, Dean would never have let Sam ride in the Impala like that. Did he make himself walk?”_

It was at least a solid ten miles back to the motel room.

“You smell like a toilet.” Sam wasn't even trying to hide his amusement.

Dean grumbled a minor threat under his breath. He wasn't regretting picking Sam up at Stanford, but it was a near thing. Having his brother around was giving him major flashbacks.

Sam kept grinning, seemingly unfazed by Dean's threats, even after so long apart. “Seriously, Dean, you’re disgusting.”

“I know!” he snapped. He glared at his brother and then looked sadly at his car. It was at least ten miles back to the motel room which seemed like one hell of a long walk, especially considering that he had just jumped off a bridge, was covered in sludge and soaking wet, they weren't any closer to figuring out what the hell was going on, and it was the middle of the night.

“Are you going to drive?” Sam asked, obviously enjoying this way more than was socially acceptable.

“Yes. No. I don’t know. Fuck. Shut up.” Dean sighed. “I’m going to walk. You’re going to drive the car at half a mile an hour back to the room and if you so much as hit a leaf, I’ll shoot you. And when you get back, don’t you dare shower. I’m taking the first one.”

Sam took the keys from Dean's slimy hand, and took off for the car without looking back. “See you in a few hours.”

Dean watched the tail lights disappear a lot quicker than a half mile an hour. Ten miles wasn’t going to take _that_ long, in the grand scheme of things, but the grime and mud was going to stiffen up his clothes and it was practically November, so it wasn’t close to a warm night. So he got walking. Ten miles.

It was ten miles to freeze to death, ten miles to get murdered by a ghost, ten miles to stew over Sam driving the Impala, ten miles to worry about Dad. Dean mused the whole way back to the motel, stopping only once to dive sideways off the highway when a yahoo going way too fast in a beat up Scirocco nearly ran him down. He hated himself for a few minutes after that little episode, for making himself walk, but he tried to see it rationally.

He never would have let Sam in the car in the state he was in now. Dad even used to break them into people’s back yards to hose them off if they got this dirty. It was disrespectful to the car to get her all muddied up, not the least of reasons why being that they also slept, ate, and lived in her on a regular basis.

Dean thought about his Dad for minute. Dad had never been away for this long without being in contact. If he really left in the middle of a job, that meant he had to be onto something even bigger. There were three things that could draw John Winchester away from a hunt, and Dean knew that he and Sam were safe, so that only left one option. But Dean could make himself sick thinking about that possibility, and thinking about Mom. He kept walking.

Besides, he could see the lights from the motel coming up and when got back, he was going to stand in the shower until there wasn’t a drop of hot water left. That would serve Sam right for having the presence of mind to grab onto the bridge on his way down. Wily bastard.

Dean smiled to himself alone in the dark. He was proud of his brother, in spite of him going off to Stanford. Or maybe because of it. Dean tried not to think of the whys and instead just focus on the main point, which was that he cared about his brother and they made a great monster fighting team.

“Hey, you okay?” Sam asked, looking up when Dean walked in. “Took longer you than I thought it was going to. Getting older, aren’t you?”

“Some jackass in a Volkswagen tried to run me down. I’m fine though, thanks for caring.” He shrugged out of his coat. “I’m going to go wash up.”

“Yeah, okay. I ordered Chinese, it'll be here soon.”

That sounded amazing, maybe even worth cutting his shower short by a full thirty seconds. Dean was about to say so, but Sam had a funny look on his face.

Dean eyed him carefully for second. If it was more shouting, angst-ridden drama, he didn’t want to go there. “What?” he asked finally.

“It’s just good to see you again, Dean.”

“...You too, Sammy.” And he meant it.


End file.
